In 2018, the celebrated Manchester Town Hall closed for a six-year renovation. Country Life recorded its empty interiors before work began and Steven Brindle tells its exceptional story. Photographs by Will Pryce.
To mark the bicentenary of The Travellers Club, the oldest club in Pall Mall, John Martin Robinson tells the story of an institution and its home, a purpose-built Renaissance palace. Photographs by Paul Highnam.
The Benington Lordship in Hertfordshire started life as a medieval castle, but has been transformed over the centuries into a comfortable house with ambitious neo-Norman additions and continues to thrive under owners Richard and Susanna Bott.
The Great Barn at Harmondsworth is the largest standing medieval timber-framed structure in Britain – and it has just been restored. Edward Impey investigates the remarkable story of its construction and its medieval use. Photographs by Will Pryce.
A visit to Scotland in the first months of her widowhood encouraged The Queen Mother to buy and restore a castle. John Goodall describes the history of the building and the achievements of the trust that has managed it for the past 22 years.
If you're looking for a truly unique house offering true get-away-from-the-world isolation, Ewen Tree House could be the opportunity you've been waiting for.
Recent work has meant that chambers unseen for 250 years have emerged from the murky underwater depths at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Annunciata Elwes reports.
Our roster of architecture writers have brought some astonishing stories of country houses which have survived and now thrive despite everything history has thrown at them. Here are the ten most popular of those articles from 2018.
The architect who created the red telephone kiosk and the London power station today occupied by Tate Modern also designed Britain’s largest cathedral. John Goodall looks at the story of this masterpiece.
Tony Ray-Jones was one of a generation of photographers who chronicled life in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s, demonstrating the gulf between the dreams of town planners and the reality for the residents. Chloe-Jane Good takes a look at one of his most famous images.
A major restoration project has brought 18th-century Pitshill House and its gardens to life. The work involved far more than simple repair, as John Martin Robinson explains, with photography by Paul Highnam for the Country Life Picture Library.
It takes a huge amount of skill and technical expertise to restore historic objects and interiors. John Goodall speaks to six specialists about their work and its challenges.
Ghosts and country houses go together like strawberries and cream. We name some of the country's best known haunted houses that you can actually visit.
A newly opened luxury resort is the product of extraordinary conservation project. It offers visitors an intriguing insight into Chinese culture, as John Goodall explains.
A few miles down the road from Winchester lies the beautiful house and gardens at Hinton Ampner, a house whose history has been shaped by fire, fashion and Country Life.
An ambitious restoration campaign has transformed the ruins of one of Britain’s greatest Regency castles and brought it back to life and use. John Martin Robinson tells its remarkable story, with photographs by Paul Highnam.
To mark 100 years since the end of the First World War, The Royal British Legion draws our attention back to those grand family homes which opened their doors to wounded soldiers from all over the world, as well as their own boys at the front.
Clive Aslet tells the remarkable story of Frederick Landseer Griggs, his struggle, his triumphs and his legacy. Photographs by Justin Paget.
Some of our most enduring stories were conceived at Haworth – Jeremy Musson enjoys a literary pilgrimage.
